Publisher: Samhain
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: ARC from the author
Cat got your tongue?
Tessa Williams is looking to make her mark outside the family business, and the unusual landlocked paddle wheeler she spots in Haines, Alaska, strikes her as the perfect location. Only the owner is being difficult, refusing to sell. Still, she’s sure that replacing her written queries with a little in-person charm is all she’ll need to shortly have her Eco-tour B&B on the road to success.
Local wolf-slash-owner of said vessel, Mark Weaver, isn’t hanging on to the landmark building out of spite. There are more reasons for holding back the sale than are easily explained on paper. A face-to-face meeting to resolve the matter only confounds it—when Mark recognizes Tessa as his mate.
But she’s a cat…and cats don’t do insta-mates.
The sexual attraction between them isn’t in question, just everything else. He wants her. She wants twue wuv. His wolf can’t figure out what the holdup is. Her cat thinks the entire situation, and the pack, are rather amusing.
Somewhere in here is the beginning of a beautiful relationship—if they don’t drive each other mad.
Warning: One hyper cat, one laid-back wolf. Inappropriate use of permanent markers, and a heaping side dish of cat/dog jokes. Shenanigans (read: nookie) in front of a roaring fire. Spiced liberally with sarcasm. Enjoy!
This blurb came from the author’s website.
Wolfies! **grin** I have been a huge fan of Arend’s Granite Lake Wolves series since I first discovered them. One of the things I love about this series is that her characters aren’t exactly normal even with it comes to shapeshifters. At least one member of each couple has well what I would call a challenge to overcome above and beyond the usual intricacies of pack living. Wolf Nip is no exception to what appears to be a tradition of an unusual challenge. In this case it happens to be bringing a cat into a pack of wolves.
Tessa, a cougar – stop giggling – mountain lion, was first introduced in Wolf Line as the constantly seasick crew member which meant she could not find a career working on the family shifter only cruise line. While in Alaska before her trip on Wolf Line she noticed a landlocked paddle wheeler that she thought would be the perfect base for a bed and breakfast ecotourism company. All she needs is a loan from the bank and to purchase the old paddle wheeler. Tessa’s cat usually keeps her moving at full speed as she finds things that interest her. This means that she has some issues concentrating on normal cat stuff, like stalking, hiding, or managing her impulse control. But that is the old Tessa, the new mature Tessa determined to establish her ecotourism business in wolf territory will withstand all of her impulses and not cause any interspecies incidents. Then Tessa meets a wolf, who happens to be the current owner of the old paddle wheeler she wants to buy. Not only does the wolf refuse to sell it to her, during the first few minutes of their initial meeting he pulls her into a really passionate kiss and declares that they are mates. Anyone who has tried to tell or command a cat to do anything should have an idea of how well that declaration goes over.
Poor Mark, he just can’t manage to find and hold onto a job for longer than a few months. He works hard, gets along with people, but just can’t seem to find his place. Since he can’t keep a regular job, he doesn’t have money to move out of pack territory in Alaska. At least there he has free board, the paddle wheeler, but he can’t sell it because it is grandfathered in provided ownership stays in his family. So he is stuck with this paddle wheeler that he can’t do anything with nor can he afford to move away. After he was let go from his most recent paying job, he was moping in the Granite Lake pack house when the pack’s Omega cornered him for a conversation. As a result of that conversation Mark decided he would establish his own business, that of a handyman. His very first client will be the T. Williams (Tessa) who wants to buy the paddle wheeler but instead will have to settle for a partner/maintenance handyman. Then he discovers that T. Williams is Tesse, his mate, and a cat who refused to believe in mate at first sight.
I alternately giggled and laughed my way through Wolf Nip as I watched Mark try to convince Tessa that he loved her and Tessa start listening to her cat about what Mark really is to her. Mark and Tessa stayed in close proximity as they worked on renovating the inside of the paddle wheeler in preparation for opening the B&B. She was so oblivious of her impact on Mark, which, I thought was really cute. I also enjoyed Mark’s struggles to hold back the instincts of his wolf as he tried to work within Tessa’s rules. I found the banter between the two of them along with Tessa’s methods of dealing with his pack amusing and touching. Arend has again produced a fun installment in her Granite Lake Wolves series. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next for those poor wolves.
I give Wolf Nip a A-